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I have two friends who were fired in downsizings at close to the same time. The first, a senior manager, was notified through email. Minutes later, corporate security guards showed up at his corner office and observed him load his modest belongings into a cardboard box. He was escorted to the door like a common criminal and stripped of his corporate ID. He still describes it as one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. The dozens of employees who watched him understood in that moment how little they meant to their employer. More on the second friend in a moment.

Hardened by Hard Times

I’ve heard recently from friends in government who are stressed out of their minds. It’s hard to cut $100 billion without a lot of carnage. Not only are they experiencing the normal stress of management but this imminent financial amputation is also pushing many to their limit. The combination of urgency, scarcity and personal peril creates a toxic set of ingredients in which conflict thrives. A civil servant friend told me today that, “This environment is a breeding ground for crucial conversations gone wrong.”

That got me thinking. I’ve seen exactly what she describes. You put this kind of pressure on most any organization and people buckle. They become fearful. They focus on survival. Their motives get self-centered. It’s almost as predictable as the boiling point of water.

Almost.

Because I’ve also seen the opposite. I’ve seen leaders act in ways during a crisis that catalyzed trust, deepened commitment and invited profound employee engagement. It turns out, trust is most malleable when people feel most vulnerable. And nothing brings out vulnerability like a crisis. So for leaders facing a crisis, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Stay Vulnerable

My second friend was just as fired as my first. But the experience was remarkably different. His boss brought him into her office. She was clearly aching about her decision and the inevitable impact on him. After announcing the painful decision, she expressed her genuine admiration for him. She asked for permission to check in on him the following week. Then she did. A month later, she and two other colleagues took him to lunch. She periodically emailed him job postings she thought might suit him. She wrote him a detailed letter of recommendation. Remarkably, this man speaks admiringly of the person who handed him his pink slip.

When things get tough, most of us close down. We try to protect ourselves from the pain of raw emotion others might exhibit. Leaders who remain vulnerable in tough times deepen trust with others in a way that endures long past the crisis moment. We have a sense that we learned who they really are. The key to building rather than eroding trust is the willingness to enter the awful uncertainty of crucial conversations with those we are responsible to lead and even let go.

Sacrifice Time

Mohammad Siddiqui is CEO of MTN South Sudan, that country’s largest mobile phone service provider. When he took his post, times were especially tough. Inflation was over 85 percent and currency had devalued to the point that the purchasing power of his employees’ paychecks dropped by more than half. Given the stiff price competition in his industry, he had little maneuvering room to raise wages. He had little money to give. But he did have time.

Siddiqui knew that to succeed in engaging his new employees he would need to build their trust. He carefully identified the most respected employees from every rank and file and began to visit each one in their homes. For example, one weekend, he and his seven-year-old daughter entered the humble home of a longtime janitor. For over an hour, they visited quietly with this hard working and respected man and his extended family. When he left, the man had no more income than he did an hour before. But he did have a deepened trust and regard for Siddiqui.

When you can’t give money, you can give of yourself. How you spend your time is an inevitable expression of your values.

Show Integrity

I have a friend who lost his house after losing his job. He went through bankruptcy to allow his family to survive the creeping catastrophe of the next couple of years. The bankruptcy freed him of most debts – including $50,000 he owed to the builder of his home. Five years later, he was happily employed and his finances were on the mend. One morning, he presented his builder with a $2,500 check and explained he would pay the rest of the $50,000 as he was able. The builder stared at him openmouthed, then stuttered, “You don’t owe me this anymore. The bankruptcy freed you of the debt to me.” My friend said simply, “It didn’t free me of my promise.”

Tough times may diminish your ability to keep commitments, but they needn’t compromise your motivation to do so. Most people will respond with increased trust and loyalty if you are honest with them about the first fact and reassuring about the second.

A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Most of us respond to crises that threaten our fiscal survival the same way we do to those that risk our physical survival. When a mugger waves a gun in your face, higher reasoning centers of the brain shut down. Our thoughts narrow to ways of protecting ourselves. Entire organizations can suffer from the self-centered thinking that accompanies times of peril. But the opposite occurs when leaders show a capacity to acknowledge the brutal reality without losing sight of their aspirations.

There’s nothing like a financial crisis to create opportunities for vulnerability, sacrifice and integrity.